“So we love all your cityscape flow motions -- how would you feel about creating them for the natural environment?” 11 episodes later having explored terrains as diverse as the dunes in Namibia, the lush Tambopata rainforest, and the barren Shetland isles, here is what I found out.
Like many photographers, we used to be more “jack of all trades” when it came to shooting professionally. We’d shoot a wedding one day and a product shoot the next.
I've been doing some freelance web development and photography and I was recently contacted by an acquaintance who's looking to start her own real estate office.
I’m not a professional, but I take my street photography seriously. Because I enjoy it so much, I’ve invested a lot of time learning the craft and practicing it. I’m not great, but I’m better than I was.
One of the most constantly joyful aspects of photography is the ability of the medium to allow the creator to make something from nothing.
I am a technical professional who wanted to become an artist in his middle years. I confess that I had no previous art training except for making papier-mâché boxes in high school!
I am a technical professional who wanted to become an artist in his middle years. I confess that I had no previous art training except for making papier-mâché boxes in high school!
2020 was not an easy year. The COVID-19 infested, politically-charged year drove us all a little mad. I started isolating in the first week of March -- I had a cold and really didn’t know what it was, so my family and I all stayed away from our respective jobs.
My portrait photography education didn’t happen in a classroom, library, or workshop. Most of what I learned came from studying my heroes’ work, trying to figure out why I loved their pictures, and then putting my own twist on them.
Recently I hit a milestone in my photographer's career: I've accomplished 250 paid assignments. It took me ten years and half a million frames to get there. I thought it's a decent reason to reflect a little bit on what has been done and what the journey feels like.
It has recently come to my attention that exactly 10 years ago, almost to the date, I took my very first step into the world of photography. I was fresh out of high school when I got conscripted to the army and later served as a military photographer. Whether it was to my liking or not, this is how I was set on this long path which has, since then, flourished and developed my passion for photography into my current career as a traveling, cultural and documentary photographer.
I switched to Sony from Canon on December 31, 2014. Since then, I’ve cranked through over 50,000 frames on my Sony cameras in the past 4+ years of shooting.
For a while now I have been working on establishing myself as a street photography educator by leading lessons and workshops throughout London, focusing on documenting human behavior and emotion rather than more new-wave techniques involving light-architecture and intricate technical compositions.
For a while now, I’ve wanted to cover the topic of syndication as it was a major factor in my work gaining widespread exposure and for the full-time career that I have now as a fine art, commercial, and editorial photographer.
One of my photography New Year's resolutions was to start to push my work to galleries and public photography showcases. In my mind, having my work in-print and in-public are some of the most significant steps in advancing my career as a fine art street photographer.
As I am always looking to improve my photography by learning, part of the process is seeking inspiration from others who create. I don’t, however, confine myself to just learning from other photographers. I cast my net for ideas wide, and look to artists, writers, musicians -- whoever it is that will inspire me with new ways of seeing and fresh ideas.
Last month, legendary British painter David Hockney's 1972 painting titled “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)” (shown above) sold for a jaw-dropping $90.3 million, the highest auction price ever for a living artist!
Here's an inspiring 16-minute video by Lisbon, Portugal-based landscape photographer Andy Mumford, who shares the 7 most important lessons he has learned over the years.
In our recent Creative Hustle video series, PetaPixel challenged two photographers, Steven John Irby and Nate Luebbe, to vlog their way through 24-hour photo challenges. This meant the photographers needed to not only be the star of the show, but also the directors and producers too. For photographers interested in giving vlogging a whirl and becoming the next Peter McKinnon, here are 10 things we learned from the Creative Hustle vlogging experience...
I just returned from a 5-week photography trip. I had a few weeks off work between contracts and figured why not hit the road instead of paying insane rent in the SF Bay area! It was still a great idea in hindsight. However, it wasn’t all bliss and glory all-day-every-day.
Late last year, photographer Irene Rudnyk reached out to a model and makeup artist for a photo concept she had in mind that featured a woman illuminated by a lantern at blue hour. Rudnyk shares in the 7-minute video above how, after putting in considerable time and effort into putting the shoot together, she failed at the actual shoot.
Ever wanted to try one of those cool smoke bomb shots, with thick, bright smoke in eerily sculpted curves floating around fashion models? I’d never tried one but I’ve seen quite a few images online that amazed and delighted me, so when the local model photography group in Orlando planned a smoke bomb shoot at a secluded junkyard, I was there early with a bag full of smoke grenades and a couple of poses I knew I wanted to get. This is what I learned.
Let's be honest: how can one be stuck in NYC? NYC was supposed to be a four- or five-day stop for my project Around the world in 80 followers, but it worked out quite differently.
On Wednesday night, a developing story kept popping up on my feed featuring Katrina Ortiz (a photo client) and Desiree Genera (a photographer). Initially, Katrina posted positive feedback regarding her hired photographer after receiving an edited image in digital format.
Well, that’s one month in the books for my 365 project. There were some days where the ideas came easy and some nights filled with tears. (Okay not that dramatic.) According to Lightroom, I took 1244 photographs this month.
I've been doing this long enough that I honestly can't remember why or how I started. I mean, I remember my origin story... but as an adult I also know that is probably a distillation and summary of what exactly went on. There are no easy lessons now.
December 3rd, 2015 was the day I bought my first camera. I carefully chose one body and one lens: a Nikon D5300 and a 50mm prime lens. Here are a few of the things I've learned throughout my journey
It always staggers me that each time I’m in the shower, or camping in my tent, or having a coffee in a rural town in the middle of nowhere in France, I keep getting fantastic ideas for future projects, blog posts, photographs, travels, discoveries, and world domination.
I was internalizing a dialogue I had the other day after seeing a mistake someone made on how they presented their thoughts and the reaction it received, when I realized that what I was actually doing was telling myself what I wish I knew early on in my career. It encompassed some mistakes along the way, and some key points that I feel some people may benefit from reading.
You will not agree with every point, and don’t worry, you shouldn’t. At the very least, you’ll agree with and consider one of them. That is what is what I hope to achieve.
365 projects. It seems that most photographers attempt one at least once. It’s a massive commitment, but you can make it easier on yourself and get a lot out of it if you approach it the right way.
At the end of 2014 I made the decision to dedicate 2015 to completing one of these projects.